


Accidental

by masturb8



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-31
Updated: 2018-05-31
Packaged: 2019-05-16 08:20:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,484
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14807717
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/masturb8/pseuds/masturb8
Summary: Accidents happen but who is there to help clean up the mess? Only your best friends, of course.





	Accidental

**Author's Note:**

  * For [SetsunaDrive](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SetsunaDrive/gifts).



Noctis calls Prompto first. The blond is his best friend, so how can he not ask for help?

"Hey, um, Prom? Yeah...I kinda Killed someone..." he finished lamely, out of breath and beyond panicked. The blond is understandably confused, and of course he began to panic.

"Yes, it was an accident! Why would I WANT to kill a hunter?! Prom...just...get out here NOW please!"

The wind is picking up considerably as Noctis frets over one of the two corpses. The large sabertusk was still twitching while the male hunter lay cold and lifeless beside it. Dirt and debris was swirling past him and he only hopped Prompto could find his location. Eventually he saw a lanky blond come over a nearby hill. He waved him over, relief washing over him that he wasn't alone anymore. 

Prompto squeaked as he saw the hunter's blood and the large scar that the liquid had come from. The gash was sizable, but the brute force he had used was what had to have killed the man. The sabertusk had been formidable and had taken every ounce of his power to take down...unfortunately the hunter had gotten in the way. 

"It rushed us both! It nearly killed us...but...that idiot had to think I was some pathetic greenhorn and got in the way of my warp strike!"

Noctis explained hurridly. The wind was loud and he had to shout to be heard by his friend. Prompto pointed to an abandoned farm house for cover. He reluctantly picked up the dust caked shoes the hunter had on while Noctis picked him up from the top. Together, they got the hunter settled into the corner of the building. They sat against one of the support beams, Noctis quiet and staring at his blade he had summoned once more. Prompto on the other hand easily voiced his fears.

"Dude! This hunter guy...I know, I know him...He's like some decorated war hero turned hunter! He used to be a big name...oh gods, now he's dead! Sheesh, man, did you have to go and kill someone? Especially someone who's that famous?" 

Noctis scowled, the spell of his sword broken, " never heard of him...the old codger just had to step in front of it...me...us...gods this is a mess." 

He put his head in his hands. His dad would kill him...worse, he'd be disappointed in him! He had been impressing his father and the other nobles left and right for some time now...enough to let him go out on his own to become his own man...to be come a better king-to-be. This would ruin it...killing sabertusks and other such beasts was deemed heroic and a beacon of hope for the people....killing the people...was not what a good king would do.

"ok...we just...ok...yeah...we need..um...um..Ignis!" Prompto sat up straighter and looked back at his friend with determination. 

"Specks!? No! If anything it'll be like telling my dad...maybe worse!"

"Iggy knows so much about...well, everything! He can help, man!"

Noctis reluctantly agreed and was on the phone with Gladio soon after...he might as well bring him in on this too. They may need the extra muscle and if Ignis had to know...then Gladio will be the one to tell him about it.

 

Night was falling, the wind had died down enough for the boys to make out two taller males coming through the slight shrubbery. The dusk made everything orange and red and casted long shadows around them. Ignis was the first to speak, Gladio being the lookout over the normally desolate plains. 

"so...this hunter got in the way of a killing blow...now he's...no more." Ignis surveyed the corpse with a clinical eye and didn't flinch away from lightly touching the man's neck for a pulse. "I suppose a phoenix down would do little to help him now...you did not have any on your person?" 

Noctis turned red somewhat as his adviser turned to him now. He shrugged and said, "if I had one, then I would have used it on him."

He worried his lip as Ignis sighed, "you said he was a bit well known? If others viewed his body...and knew he was up against a sabertusk...they would know that the cuts it could give would be very different from what killed him. His majesty would not think well of us killing one of our own...so, we must hide the body...perhaps leave here as soon as possible. People will jump to their own conclusions about what happened to the lone hunter." 

Gladio made them all jump with his gruff voice as he said, "we might wanna do this soon...Nights a great cover, but daemons might find us instead."

They didn't have to walk far, because outside the old building was a rock formation that led into a clearing. It was far enough away from Hammerhead, but close enough that the hunter would be found eventually. They went a little deeper into the clearing and found a graveyard of sorts with bones of long dead beasts jutting up from the ground. There had been a broken shovel in the old barn, and Prompto had rigged it to the handle of one of Noctis's lances. The prince and his blond friend both ended up digging. Ignis told them how far in to dig, so that no animals would smell the corpse and dig it up. Once they were finally done, Gladio tenderly put the crumbled body into the make shift grave. 

"we should put his dog tag around here..." Prompto gestured to one of the bones jutting out. It had others next to it, making it look like a rib cage. Gladio was tallest, so he tied it to the top so it would hang down. Noctis found a big enough rock to be a headstone. 

"we...should say a few words I suppose..." Ignis pipped up, looking down at the fresh grave. Noctis wanted to be the one to say some words, but honestly...he was still in shock over it all. Prompto fiddled with his hands, unsure of what to say or do for Noct, or the hunter. 

"He knew the risks...probably more than any of us. He was brave, and strong to the last. He knew death was unavoidable, and it was his duty to try to stop the beasts roaming around here. " Gladio said as if he knew the man. He could understand the strength and the need to protect others it took to face danger everyday, so he felt akin to the hunter. 

"yeah...I'm sorry...I didn't want it to end like this for you, " Noct said through a lump in his throat. He knew he needed to apologize...at least here, and now...he knew the hunter wouldn't need it, but his conscious did. He pushed past the shame and shock to say, "I didn't know you...but you did try to help me...you thought that beast was gonna kill me...I should have told you I could handle it...to stay clear. You came running once you saw us fighting, and...I'm grateful you cared enough to put your life on the line for some stranger."

all this came out in a rush and Noctis fell to his knees, tears pouring out of his eyes. He allowed himself to feel now. Feel the shame of having innocent blood on his hands, and what could have been for the life he had snuffed out, regardless of how old the man had seemed. Ignis put a hand to his shoulder and told him they needed to make it back to the car. He assured Noctis that Gladio was no longer mad, and his reason for leaving on the hunt was sorted out. 

Noctis remembered getting in a heated argument with his shield, so much so, that he had to take a long walk away, killing any creature that got in his path...and unfortunately, a human. He hiccuped and let Prompto lead him away from the grave. 

"we will leave as soon as we get to the Regalia, we'll make for Caem...then Altissia." Ignis said cooly as he whistled for his chocobo. Gladio and Prompto did the same and they waited for Noctis to signal his own. He gave one last look over his shoulder in the general direction of the hunter's grave, as if he could somehow see it outside the clearing. Sighing, he whistled for his own bird. They made their way back to the car, ready to be gone from Hammerhead. The place was just beginning to wind down, and the stores had closed. No one stopped them, no one asked what they had been doing out this late.


End file.
